


Riot of a Thousand Fires (Hyakka Ryouran)

by MidoriKurenaiYume



Category: Fate/Zero, Fate/stay night & Related Fandoms
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dystopia, Angst, Angst and Romance, Dialogue, Drama, F/M, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Post-Apocalypse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-21
Updated: 2018-05-21
Packaged: 2019-10-06 19:36:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,281
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17351318
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MidoriKurenaiYume/pseuds/MidoriKurenaiYume
Summary: Apocalyptic AU.His fingers began to squeeze her throat, no mercy and no hesitation in his chokehold. “Tell me, do you wish to live?”





	Riot of a Thousand Fires (Hyakka Ryouran)

**Author's Note:**

> This is a random idea of a catastrophic scenario, deliberately vague and with no sequel planned. Each scene is set one year after the other.  
> I hope you enjoy ;)
> 
> Title: from a Kalafina song, their 21st single :D the title was translated on NHK Japan, while the lyrics were translated by the canta-per-me forum ;)

…

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_We thought about our fate_

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They had all died, one after the other, but she was now going to stop the needless deaths, no matter the cost.

She had never asked nor wished to be summoned, but she had not been against it completely, because it was what she was ultimately destined to do. As a Heroic Spirit, her fate was to be summoned by those with the power to do so; all she could do was hope it was by someone who truly needed her help and would use her powers to achieve noble goals.

Arturia didn’t know what her Master’s goal had been; she hadn’t even had the time to find out his name, because he had died a few minutes after summoning her to the real world, his body showing visible signs of malnutrition and illness. The mana he had used had been enough to drain him completely, and he had died without her having the possibility to do anything to save him.

Whatever he had done in the process of her summoning had to have been imperfect though, because she soon realized that she was not in need of a mana supply to remain in this reality. She could of course still die, but not due to lack of mana, which meant that she was stuck in the present world without any clear idea of where she was and what purpose she had either.

Once she had left her Master’s laboratory, where she had been summoned, she soon met people who had worked with him and who were able to fill her in about the situation of the real world outside.

About ten years before, there had been a terrible nuclear disaster, which had decimated both the world’s population and its resources. While people had struggled and eventually managed to overcome the initial shock, the results had been worse than just a famine, as strange illnesses had begun to spread as well.

For some reason, Arturia discovered that she was immune to all of them. At first, it had been something useful, as it had allowed her to help the people she met without fear of being infected, but it had soon become a curse – because she kept surviving, but most of the others didn’t.

One of the kind women she had met and who had been welcoming towards her, Irisviel, had died in her arms. Many people, when they had found themselves stuck in a rubble for a few hours, had lost their minds and taken their own lives. Every other person seemed now a threat, and aside from the famine, violence was becoming a more and more common part of everyday life too. It was necessary for them to be able to defend themselves, not just against wild animals affected by the nuclear radiations, but now against other humans as well.

As Arturia discovered once all the humans she had met after her summoning died, she wasn’t the only one who had been summoned and had ended up being trapped in the real world.

Eventually, she found herself travelling together with another Heroic Spirit.

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_We run onward toward destruction_

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…

“Your useless determination is something I happen to find rather amusing,” Gilgamesh commented, his tone not giving away anything of what he was truly thinking.

A cold smirk curved his lips then, even though just barely. “I intend to be there when you reach the end of your journey, to see the look on your face as you realize that it has been a hopeless endeavour all along.”

Arturia’s instinctual reaction was to object, as she felt the full force of his obnoxiousness. However, she managed to control herself before biting words escaped her and closed her mouth again as she considered his meaning.

He was implying that he was going to accompany her on her search.

“It’s a dangerous quest,” she pointed out after a moment of silence, choosing to completely overlook his scornful rudeness. “The chances of dying are high, and this time the death will be definitive. If you come with me, you might not live long.”

It was his turn to brush her off, and his head tilted to the side slightly, his blond hair following his movement with unfailing preciseness.

“It’s interesting to note that people seem to be obsessed with living a _long_ life,” he observed flippantly, turning to stare at the darkening sky for a few seconds before bringing his eyes on her again. A slightly disdainful yet also more ancient expression settled on his features. “Everyone dies in the end, therefore fighting so desperately for the unobtainable is not worthwhile–”

“You’re wrong,” she interrupted him, forcefully. “There are always ones who are worth it. _For whom_ it’s worth it. Even if it’s just for one person, it’s important to fight.”

“And not for yourself?” he shot back, almost casually, even though there was an underlying firmness that revealed that he wanted to see how she would reply, and he insisted, “Are you so desperate for recognition?”

Beginning to feel annoyed in spite of herself, Arturia’s words were dry.

“No, I’m not. I wish for peace. For no more of this senseless death.”

He studied her for a full minute, taking in her resolute expression from every angle, and then let out a short laugh. His tone was however serious as he took a step closer to her and spoke again, uttering every word slowly.

“You will die on this quest.”

It sounded like an ominous promise, and it made Arturia stiffen, but she refused to break his gaze.

“I _will_ find the Grail to stop this famine and the diseases,” she hissed, with even more conviction than before. “If I die during this mission, then so be it. But it’s not a possibility that is going to stop me from trying.”

In less than a second, he was right in front of her. His hands closed around her neck and he roughly slammed her body against a tree.

His fingers began to squeeze her throat, no mercy and no hesitation in his chokehold.

“Tell me, Arturia,” he murmured darkly, “do you wish to live?”

She could barely breathe, and lack of air was truly beginning to be a serious problem, but it wasn’t enough to prevent her from mouthing, “Only until I manage to make this horror end.”

He held her for a few more seconds, giving her a hard glare. Arturia could have broken free, her hands and legs weren’t restricted and she could have used the position to her advantage, but she chose to remain still even as her lungs began to strongly protest about it.

As she had expected, he released her and took a step back, waiting a few seconds to let her catch her breath.

“You will fail,” he repeated then, with the same amount of confidence he had displayed before. “And when you do, I will be there to witness it.”

He leaned forward again and, if he had inclined his head just a hairbreadth more, his lips would have made contact with her jaw. She pulled back slowly, warily, knowing that he had managed to come so close only because he had caught her by surprise.

As she carefully tried to decide how to answer him, massaging her neck at the same time, he took advantage of her silence to keep talking.

“I’m beginning to resent your mission,” he informed her, seeming slightly dissatisfied, as if he disliked admitting it, but before she could ask him to explain his statement, he was already elaborating, “Since it will lead you to your death.”

Again she pondered over his words, her eyebrows raising in question, recalling that he had said just a short while before that everyone was destined to die anyway; furthermore, he had just attempted to strangle her, which was at odds with his statement.

“Why would this be something you resent?” she probed, feeling that their conversation was beginning to take some more unexpected turns than usual.

Gilgamesh shrugged, his shoulders making a minimal movement, seemingly as an uncaring gesture, but the fact that he looked away from her betrayed his earnestness.

“If you die, it will be difficult to find someone as fascinating as you are.”

Arturia wasn’t able to reply right away, but she could not miss the irony in such a declaration, and after a tense second, she stepped away from him, ready to retire for the night.

Before turning around, she bit out her reply with more harshness than she had intended.

“Difficult perhaps, but not impossible.”

She could feel his eyes following her even though she chose to ignore them, but she couldn’t miss his unusual tone – which suggested that he was probably _smiling_ – as he calmly countered, “I’m inclined to believe that ‘impossible’ is more likely to be true in this case.”

If she had turned around to look at him, she would have seen that she hadn’t been wrong and he was indeed regarding her with a strange smile.

…

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_What we think we want to protect_

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“Give up on finding the Grail,” he snarled at her, eyes flashing dangerously.

“Never,” she growled back, staring back at him, shaking with anger. “Do you not see how contradictory you are, Gilgamesh?”

There was almost fire breathing out of her mouth at this point. “You want me to stay alive, so you order me to give up on finding the Grail because you claim I will die on the quest – yet you are drawn to me _because_ of my… determination–”

“Stubbornness,” he supplied, and her glare could have incinerated him.

“–my determination in pursuing the Grail! If I were to give it up, don’t you see that it would go against who I am? You claim you are _fascinated_ by who I am – and I _can’t_ give up the Grail!”

His eyes were glaring at her as well.

“Don’t _you_ see that you will only see your hopes crushed in pursuing this emptiness?” His voice came out in a strong yet soft whisper. “The Grail is an illusion. A dream. A _fantasy_. How could you even believe that such an object exists? It’s impossible for an artefact to perform a miracle, let alone an artefact _that doesn’t exist_. You are merely a stubborn fool.”

“And you know nothing, Gilgamesh, because you presume you already know it all and are above everyone and everything,” she roared. “The Grail _does_ exist. It does and it can perform miracles, but almost no one contemplates finding it, because it has a price. And that price is human life.”

A long silence fell between them, only their harsh breaths could be heard in the otherwise quiet clearing.

“My own wouldn’t suffice,” Arturia went on, “but I’m not offering just my own. I’m a killer. I bear the weight of all the lives I’ve taken to come this far, and I will trade them, together with my own, in exchange for a miracle. The Grail has the power to remove the effects of the nuclear radiations, and it will get my life in return. It’s only fair.”

He did not fail to notice how she hadn’t even considered _his_ life for the exchange, but he wasn’t surprised by it. Arturia would never have even _thought_ of it.

Gilgamesh shook his head, his frustration now becoming obvious together with a scowl that he didn’t bother hiding.

“You are incredibly foolish, and childish, and naïve – yet your commitment is worthy of admiration. What you intend to do is pointless, yet it makes you so beautiful at the same time.”

“You are superficial,” she shot back, almost with scorn. “Why should you care about my physical appearance–”

“I wasn’t talking about your physical appearance,” he interjected. “Do you think I haven’t seen all kinds of physical beauties in this hollow world? While you are remarkable in that category as well, it’s something too ephemeral to interest me.”

He leaned forward, eyes gleaming as he took her in. “You know perfectly well that I wasn’t talking about that kind of beauty.”

She held his gaze, but she did not reply.

“You are desperate, but not driven by desperation,” he went on after a long silence. “You are filled with determination but not obsessed, you are unrelenting and steadfast in your beliefs but not haughty.”

He tilted his head to the side as he appraised her for an even longer pause. “Considering all these contradictions, and the impossible goal you strive to achieve, the fact that you are still alive would certainly deserve the title of miracle, if I believed such things existed.”

Once again, she remained silent for a while. She didn’t have any comments to make on his assessment of her, but she could not let the argument end like this either.

“Leave, Gilgamesh,” she finally said. “You have nothing to gain by following me. You already know what I intend to do. And make no mistake, I _will_ do it.”

He stood a little taller, eyes remaining on her with a peculiar light in them, as if earnestly contemplating his options, before offering an unexpected, small, mysterious smile.

“I don’t doubt that at all,” he declared. “Which is why _I_ intend to be there to witness it.”

The look he gave her was powerful, so much as to almost hypnotize her, and for a split second, Arturia felt that he had managed to pierce her heart with it.

“But that’s not the only reason,” he decided to tell her, still staring straight into her eyes. “By every means possible, I will also endeavour to prevent your death.”

…

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_The flames go up to the sky_

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**Author's Note:**

> To give just a bit more context: in this AU, there's a terrible famine and people are dying. Gilgamesh looked for immortality after Enkidu's death (as they were both summoned) but without success, making him cynical and bored. He heard of the Grail, but didn't believe anyone would pursue it until he met Arturia, who is looking for it. And as both of them can't exactly die, they travel together ;)  
> Thank you so much for reading :D


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